Transmission of power and data at multiple power levels
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- transmitting a power signal to a Light Emitting Diode (LED) and a communication circuit associated with the LED, the power signal having enough power to power the communication circuit but not enough to illuminate the LED;
transmitting data to the communication circuit by varying the power signal while keeping the power of the power signal below a power level at which the LED illuminates; and
increasing the power of the power signal to at least the power level at which the LED illuminates.
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Abstract
In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a circuit coupled to a line, where the circuit may power a device, and where the power is transmitted to the device over the line as a pulse-width modulated signal. The circuit may set a duty cycle of the pulse-width modulated signal in order to transmit a determined power level to the device. The apparatus may vary a frequency of the pulse-width modulated signal to transmit data to the device while the duty cycle of the pulse-width modulated signal is fixed in order to continue to transmit the determined power level to the device. A variation in the frequency of the pulse-width modulated signal may be detectable by the device and represents at least a portion of the data.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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transmitting a power signal to a Light Emitting Diode (LED) and a communication circuit associated with the LED, the power signal having enough power to power the communication circuit but not enough to illuminate the LED; transmitting data to the communication circuit by varying the power signal while keeping the power of the power signal below a power level at which the LED illuminates; and increasing the power of the power signal to at least the power level at which the LED illuminates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An apparatus comprising:
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a communication circuit configured to receive a power signal from a control device over a line, the communication circuit further configured to receive a first plurality of data values encoded in variations of the power signal while the power in the power signal remains at a first constant power level, and wherein the communication circuit is further configured to receive a second plurality of data values encoded in variations of the power signal while the power in the power signal remains at a second constant power level. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus comprising:
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a control device configured to transmit a power signal to a communication circuit associated with a load device; and a control unit configured to cause the control device to encode a first plurality of data values in the power signal while the power in the power signal remains at a first constant power level, and the control unit further configured cause the control device to encode a second plurality of data values in the power signal while the power in the power signal remains at a second constant power level. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification